I’m a co-author on the Brookings School Choice Task Force report that was released yesterday in DC, following briefings on the Hill. Andrew Coulson has already raised concerns about the report because he fears expanding the federal role in education even if it is in expanding choice.
I’m sympathetic to Andrew’s position but I should note that he wrote his post prior to the release of the report. After reading it he might have a lot less to be concerned about. The Task Force did not recommend a large federal program on school choice. Instead, we emphasized improving the quality of information and providing incentives for states and localities to expand choice. And we conceived of choice broadly, including vouchers, charters, virtual learning, magnets, inter-district, etc…
These measures are nowhere near the kind of choice that Andrew and I would ultimately like to see, but we have to understand political realities and embrace incrementalism. I think there are a lot of sensible ideas in the report but you should read it and judge for yourself. It can be found here.
